Anticancer Role of PPARγ Agonists in Hematological Malignancies Found in the Vasculature, Marrow, and Eyes

The use of targeted cancer therapies in combination with conventional chemotherapeutic agents and/or radiation treatment has increased overall survival of cancer patients. However, longer survival is accompanied by increased incidence of comorbidities due, in part, to drug side effects and toxicities. It is well accepted that inflammation and tumorigenesis are linked. Because peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-gamma agonists are potent mediators of anti-inflammatory responses, it was a logical extension to examine the role of PPARgamma agonists in the treatment and prevention of cancer. This paper has two objectives: first to highlight the potential uses for PPARgamma agonists in anticancer therapy with special emphasis on their role when used as adjuvant or combined therapy in the treatment of hematological malignancies found in the vasculature, marrow, and eyes, and second, to review the potential role PPARgamma and/or its ligands may have in modulating cancer-associated angiogenesis and tumor-stromal microenvironment crosstalk in bone marrow.